Women using perfume and leaving the house

Question

Respected Moulana, is there a hadith that likens a woman applying perfume and leaving the home to a prostitute. And if so what is the explanation.

Answer

Sayyiduna Abu Musa Al Ash’ari (radiyallahu ‘anhu) reports that Nabi (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “Any woman who applies perfume and passes by people so that they may smell her fragrance is like an adulteress”.

The commentators of hadith explain that since this woman has stirred up the desires of men with her fragrance, she has encouraged them to cast gazes at her, thus making her the cause of adultery of the eyes.

It is a principle in Islam, that one who is the cause of the sin will also bear the brunt of that sin. This doesn’t mean that the one who actually perpetrates the wrong is innocent. Rather, he too will be sinful.

Note: the Arabic word used in the Hadith is ‘زانية ‘ which means an adulteress and not a prostitute.